News Releases
New Government Transparency with Online Unified Regulatory Agenda; Reduces Costs to Agencies, Expands Public Access to Regulatory InformationGSA # 10430 December 10, 2007 Washington - The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced new transparency measures today. The federal agency’s regulatory agenda information will now be published online. The shift from paper to the Internet will help save federal regulatory agencies an estimated $800,000 per year, and provide the public access to search current regulatory information and historical content covering regulatory activities over the past 25 years. GSA’s Regulatory Information Service Center (RISC) in the Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) publishes the semiannual Unified Regulatory Agenda and the annual Regulatory Plan on behalf of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The Agenda and Plan inform the public about regulations under development or review and to aid public participation in the regulatory process. Recent editions of the Agenda have included brief descriptions, timetables and contact information for nearly 4,000 planned regulatory actions, by approximately 60 federal departments and agencies. The Regulatory Plan contains agency statements of regulatory priorities and additional data about the most significant planned regulatory actions. The Agenda and Plan allow all Federal regulatory agencies to comply with the public information and regulatory agenda requirements of Executive Order 12866 on regulatory planning and review and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. “The Unified Regulatory Agenda and annual Regulatory Plan will be more accessible on the Internet in an enhanced user-friendly, searchable database format,” said Susan Dudley, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Office of Management and Budget. “This is another step in our efforts to improve transparency and increase the public’s access to the rulemaking process.” “I am pleased that GSA has been able to help shed more light on the regulatory process while saving taxpayer money,” said Kevin Messner, Acting Associate Administrator of Office of Governmentwide Policy. “The public can now find and search for regulations on the Internet thanks to the work of RISC and the eRulemaking Initiative.” The Federal Register print edition, published on the same day, will include the Regulatory Plan and the information required to be published in the Federal Register by the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The cost savings will be achieved by eliminating a substantial number of printed pages in the Federal Register. The Unified Agenda and Regulatory plan will be available online at reginfo.gov and regulations.gov. ### Founded in 1949, GSA serves as a centralized procurement and property management agency for the federal government. GSA manages more than one-fourth of the government’s total procurement dollars and influences the management of $500 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 205,000 vehicles. GSA helps preserve our past and define our future, as a steward of more than 425 historic properties, and as manager of USA.gov, the official portal to federal government information and services. GSA’s mission to provide superior workplaces, expert technology solutions, acquisition services, purchasing and eGov travel solutions and management policies, at best value, allows federal agencies to focus on their core missions. Did you know? OGP’s policymaking authority covers the areas of personal and real property, travel and transportation, information technology, regulatory information and use of federal advisory committees. Index of News Releases
Last Reviewed 12/10/2007
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